I’ll admit – I’m not a huge ZZ Top fan. Let’s say I wouldn’t change the station if a ZZ Top song came on, but I wouldn’t rush to buy concert tickets either. But a band’s gotta be doing something right to still sell records 37 years after they formed.

Dusty Hill has held down the low end for the band’s 37 year tenure, and sports a new bass for every other photo he appears in. (Billy Gibbons & Dusty Hill are both known for their guitar collecting addiction….err….hobby.)

Most of Hill’s basses are solidbody. Usually some variation on an early 50′s Fender Precision Bass, or a Dean “Z’ Bass. However, he’s sported a few hollowbodies, built by Bolin Guitars. Below are the only two that I could find pictures of, but I’m sure there have to be more. Both have bodies styled after the Gibson L-5 guitar, with Gibson Thunderbird-shaped headstocks.

If you’ve got $7,500 just laying around, you can have your very own Bolin Dusty Hill “Crazy Cowboy” Bass: http://www.iwantguitars.com/store/?product=9392

Few bands can ‘bring the heavy’ like Ministry – and until 2003, Paul Barker was 1/2 of the Ministry equation. I’ve been a Ministry fan since Filth Pig was released, and it along with Dark Side of the Spoon are my two favorite Ministry albums. Given that I’m a bassist, this really isn’t a coincidence. (For the hardcore Ministry fans out there – I wish I could have been a fan earlier, but hey, I was only 14 when Filth Pig was released.)

Filth Pig and DSotS both feature prominent, heavily distorted bass – which is an art form in itself. In the hands of lesser bassists, ‘distorted bass’ either sounds like a white noise generator or your upstairs neighbor farting in the bathtub. However Paul Barker actually retains the ‘musical’ nature of the bass even though he’s engineered the thickest tone in history. While earlier albums like Psalm 69 and The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste feature Paul’s bass playing, Ministry slowed the tempo down for Filth Pig and DSotS, showcasing Paul’s tone. With earlier records, the tempo was so fast that the bass lines rarely deviated from mimicking the guitar riff.

I’ve been unsuccessful in locating any information on Paul Barker’s rig, other than his bass. Scrutinizing tour pictures proved unsuccessful as well – I couldn’t find a clear shot of any rack gear or amp heads. But one piece of gear that is unmistakable is the Gibson EB-750 hollowbody bass that has been Paul’s main touring instrument for years.

The EB-750 was designed by Phillip Jones, formerly of the Gibson Custom Shop, and now working for Gruhn Guitars in Nashville. It featured a mahogany neck and deep, hollow maple body. Two Bartolini active pickups and a volume and tone control for each. I’m not sure when they started offering this model, but it was discontinued in 1996. The number produced is unknown, but I would guess it’s well under 100. In fact, Paul Barker’s is the only EB-750 I’ve seen in the black finish. Most are finished in Natural:

If you’d like to hear Paul Barker’s bass playing, I’d suggest checking out “Lava” and “Lay Lady Lay” from Filth Pig, and “Eureka Pile” and “Kaif” from Dark Side of the Spoon.